Disguise

The holy fire burned through Love, tore through her muscle tissue, and burned a hole into her nervous system. Her human features that set her apart from her Clara sisters were falling apart, now mutating into a demonic state. Love's hands became twisted and disjointed, and her nails grew into claws. Love's once beautiful amethyst eyes became empty sockets. They were so dark and deep it was as though they held an unfathomable abyss within them. Her voice was now warped and contorted, without a trace of humanity.

Everyone in the Holy Quintet felt a deep fear as they saw this creature unfold before them. To call her a simple familiar was far from the truth. This thing had a mind of its own, with its own agenda.

From beyond the deep darkness was the silhouette of a raven-haired girl with glowing reddish-violet eyes, with a rough expression. "That idiot," She muttered as she looked down at another raven-haired girl, whose clothes were clearly disheveled and her skin had several claw marks carved into them. "Well, at least I have another."

Back at the skyscraper, the torrent of flames kept burning through the mutated Clara Doll. Her expression was clear of any clarity, with only anger and rage in her heart...or what's left of it.

"I'll handle this familiar, everyone, find a way out of this labyrinth," Mami commanded with an intense war tone.

"Got it, Mami. Go kick her ass," Kyouko gave a thumbs up, while she lead the rest of the group down the skyscraper, away from the mutated doll's sight.

Without a moment's hesitation, Mami summoned a parade of muskets and fired them all at once. Love fired her bow in a counterattack, with several bolts of amethyst lightning materializing to halt the flaming Tiro Finales.

"wE woUlD hAVe gIVen yOu aN EnJOYabLE lIFe, aNd yET YoU refUSe EVen tHAt fROm Us…" Love's distorted tone had the slightest hint of melancholy, but it was shrouded in rage. Malefic wings sprouted from out of her back. Their contents were of pure darkness and shadow, threatening to drain even the bright undying star known as Mami Tomoe.

The shadows beneath Love extended and mutated into several false Clara Dolls, all mocking the magical girl.

"LET's gET stARted, ToMOe-SENPaI."

[]

The night sky was clouded by a large dark fog too thick to be considered clouds. A strange and rampant amethyst energy circulated through it like lightning. It had a mind of its own and followed the four magical girls, chasing them throughout the Mitakihara City Labyrinth.

"Shit, what is that thing?!" The redhead yelled, trying to repel it back with shockwaves from her spear. Her attempts were in vain though, as the shadows drew ever so closer.

"Just keep running, Kyouko! We got no other choice!" Sayaka yelled.

"AAAAHHHH!" A familiar voice screeched their ears. Yuma's small hand tried to claw its way out of the dark fog that spread across her body, engulfing and drowning her in a vortex of shade. "S-save meee!"

"Y-Yuma!" Nagisa cried out as she equipped her horn. With full strength, she poured her voice into the trumpet-like weapon, firing out several bubble-shaped projectiles that collided against the darkness.

It flinched back, and in that moment, Kyouko latched onto Yuma's hands, trying to pull her out with all her strength. "The hell are you two just standin' for?! HELP ME!" The redhead cried out.

Sayaka wrapped her arms around Yuma's left arm, while Nagisa grabbed onto Yuma's right arm, with all three trying to pull the green-haired victim with all of their strength.

"Shiiit, c'mon Yuma! I ain't losin' you! AAaaaghhh!"

Everyone pulled with all their strength against the shade of darkness. However, the shade didn't give a single inch, as it pulled both Yuma and Kyouko into its abyss.

"Pull back! Nagisa! Pull back!" Sayaka dragged Nagisa away from the darkness that swallowed Kyouko and Yuma alike. The white-haired magical girl struggled against the blue knight, but Sayaka wouldn't have it. "We have to keep moving! If we want to make this world whole again, we have to keep moving! So snap out of it!"

"No! Our friends are still in the-"

"LET'S GO!"

The white-haired girl flinched as she looked back and forth toward Sayaka and the dark fog. Sayaka gasped for breath as she yelled at Nagisa, trying to pull her back to her senses. "If we want to save everyone from Homura's prison, we have to go! We'll save them! I swear it! But please, Nagisa! Trust me!"

"I GET IT!" Nagisa yelled back, "I get it!"

Hearing Nagisa's confirmation, a tired smile crafted itself on Sayaka's lips, "Then let's go kick some ass."

[]

The turbulent winds spun Kyouko farther and farther into vertigo, her hair tangled against the tainted hurricane. "Y-Yuma!" She cried out, as she tried to reach out to grab her adopted sister's hand, but the bipolar winds wouldn't allow it.

Without an inkling of mercy, the abyss tore them apart from each other. "Kyouko-neechan!"

"Yuma!"

Then, complete silence.

An eerie quietness screamed in Kyouko's eardrums. It was deafening compared to the once-violent vortex. This silence was near-drowning. It deprived her of all senses. Everywhere she looked was shrouded in pure darkness. Kyouko didn't even know whether she was up, down, or sideways.

The black scenery warped and changed before her. Down at her boots, the shadowed ground started to grow and lengthen into lavender roses. A throne made out of pure pink roses formed, and a dark silhouette sat elegantly on top of it. With her legs crossed, she called out to Kyouko Sakura.

"Hello, Kyouko Sakura."

The redhead couldn't help but be amazed and stared in wonder. Whether it was out of fear or curiosity only Kyouko would know. "Take a seat," The shadow commanded. With a flick of a finger, another chair formed out of crimson roses formed right behind the tomboy redhead.

Cautiously, she sat - spear in hand. "Where's Yuma?" She asked first, and foremost.

"She's fine. I teleported her to my home. Asleep, of course."

"My home" struck as odd to Kyouko, but she decided to overlook it, "What am I doing here?"

"Interesting question. Why are you here?" The Demon questioned as she swished the lavender drink in her elegant stem glass. She uncrossed her legs. The sheer act of it left Kyouko gasping for breath.

A revelation caught Kyouko by the nose. She hadn't blinked. Her eyes felt dry, as though something had placed a heater near her eyes for a whole hour. That wasn't all though. The redhead hadn't even breathed ever since she laid eyes on The Demon.

"Ah, looks like I unconsciously used my ability. I apologize," The eldritch deity didn't sound apologetic at all.

As she flicked her fingers, a wave of air hit the redhead, with her breathing and blinking habits returning to normal. Kyouko gasped, as though she had been drowning earlier. "People who are compatible to my essence focus too much on me, to the point where they forget to breath. Though there are a few exceptions, like the other me who already knew how to deal with that."

"It just…" Kyouko held a hand to her chest. She felt her heart beat faster and faster, "...proves you're insane…"

"Insane? True. But who's crazier? The one who takes things at face value, or to someone who achieves what she desires?" She stood up, her stocking-covered legs brushing against the dark energies of the abyss. Every movement was elegant and well-calculated. It made Kyouko's face turn beet red as she gulped.

The eldritch demon drew closer to Kyouko, up until she was able to whisper into the magical girl's right ear. No matter how much Kyouko tried to put strength into her muscles, no matter how much she commanded her body to move, it stood still in a trance, knelt toward the Temptress of Desires.

In a lustful whisper, The Demon spoke, "You don't even know what you're fighting for. The only reason you are fighting me is because you're angry that I trapped Sayaka, but that was only because she wanted to tear everything I worked for apart."

Kyouko shut her eyes, not listening to her.

Sighing, The Demon continued, "What do you think about your life before you entered this war against me? Was it torture? Was it Hell?"

A shocking revelation hit Kyouko Sakura.

Her sad whispers rang in Kyouko's ears so loudly. She felt like a fool the moment The Demon - no, Homura, whispered this.

"Were you truly….not happy?"

End Chapter

Author Notes

I could've made it longer, but I wanted to end it at a certain spot. So far this was my shortest chapter and longest waiting time. I apologize for that. Procrastination struck me hard.

But hey, I wrote another chapter for Pilgrimage as a Christmas present for you guys.

Anyways, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.